translated to ASCII on October 11, 1996 -- %%%%% %%%%%% %%%%%% %%%% %%%%%% %%%%%% %%%%% %% %% %%%%%% %% %% %% %% %% %% %%%%%% %%%%%% %%%%%% %%%%%% %% %% %% %%% %% %% %% %% %% %% %% %% %% %% %% %%%% %% %%% %% %% %% %%%%%% %% %% %%%% %% %% %% %% %% %% % %% %%%% %%%%% %% %% %%%% %% %%%%%% %% %% %% % %% %%%% %% %% %% %% %% %%%%% %% %% %% %%% %% %% %% %%%%%% %%%%%% %% %% %% %% %%%%%% %% %%% %% %% %% %%%% %%%%%% %% %% %% %% %%%%%% %% %% %% %% dedicated to the art of the written word volume 2, number 2 February 1996 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D POETRY INK 2.02 / ISSN 1091-0999 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D presents volume 2, number 2 February 1996 Issue 9 >From The Editor's Desktop... ---------------------------- First and foremost, An Announcement: The next issue of POETRY INK will not appear until after April 15, 1996. No, it's not because I have to work on my taxes (been there, done that, owed the government money for the first time in my life); it is just that POETRY INK is making a transition of sorts. Starting with the next issue (Issue 10 or Volume 2, Number 3, for those of you keeping score), POETRY INK will appear on a bi-monthly basis--that is, every other month. The reason for this is two-fold: first, I need more time between issues so we aren't as rushed = putting an issue "to bed," and second, I am redesigning the look and feel of POETRY INK (yet again). While I am still dedicated to the eDOC(tm) format (after all , I paid the shareware fee), it has finally dawned on me that I need to seriously re-vamp the format of POETRY INK ; a sort of Spring Cleaning, so to speak. As a regular reader of eZines such as "About This Particular Macintosh", "The Real MACoy" (an APTM rip-off), and "Planet Magazine", and many others as well, I am = envious of the clarity of format in their design. Of course, the above mentioned eZines all use the DocMaker format, and hence have some multi-media features that eDOC(tm) doesn't. However, despite the differences in presentation engines, I find = that Poetry Ink is, quite frankly, lacking something in the looks department. So I am going to pump some zest into this baby and hopefully bring it up to par. And that goes for our submission guidelines as well (yes, they are rather dense at this point and = they do delve into a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo that is relevant but = probably doesn't need to appear in each issue). Also in this issue are the Winners and Honorable Mentions of the POETRY INK Writing Contest: An Exercise in Writing. Although we had over 300 entries from around the world (even one written in Sanskrit!), it will probably be no surprise to our regular readers that John Freemyer took First Place. John is a regular contributor = to POETRY INK (he's had poems appear in almost every issue to date) and his poem _Papa's Photo Chronology_ was far and away the best entry. Michaele Benedict took Second Place with her poem _On A Modest Table..._ and W. Luther Jett rounded out the top three (Third Place for you mathematicians out there) with his piece _O, Salvador!_ Prize packages containing Award Certificates and semi-valuable prizes were mailed out the final week of January. Congratulations to the winners, and for the record, the prizes were: * 1st Place: an acrylic note pad holder (with note pad ) and a few GreenBacks (funny-money) * 2nd Place: a small container of sandalwood-scented bath oil and a month-at-a-glance calendar * 3rd Place: a mouse pad from a leading telephone long-distance provider and a sheet of Apple Computer logo stickers And I am doing this whole contest thing again: look for the rules = for the second **POETRY INK Writing Contest: Formulaic Expression** = later on in this issue. Finally, and most importantly, our eMail address will be changing = with the debut of the next issue. With our home base -- eWorld(tm) -- = being dissolved /changed/erased from existence before the end of the year, it is time for POETRY INK to either sink or swim. So, we will either pop up on America Online(tm) or jump to a local Internet provider, which means we will need volunteers to upload each issue to the commercial online services [America Online(tm) & eWorld(tm) don't charge you for the time you are connected while uploading files]. We will receive eMail at the address until we = decide which service to go with; we will eMail all our contributors and subscribers to keep you abreast of the situation, and also upload appropriate notification to the places where POETRY INK can usually = be found. So keep reading, keep writing, keep sending in submissions, Spill = the Ink, and May the Muse be Kind! Matthew W. Schmeer, editor POETRY INK ---------- **Editor** Matthew W. Schmeer **e-mail** **snail mail** Matthew W. Schmeer POETRY INK PRODUCTIONS 6711-A Mitchell Avenue St. Louis, MO 63139-3647 U.S.A. Official OneNetBBS Network distribution by Ben Judson Official America On-Line(tm) distribution by Dick Steinbach Official WWW Web Page maintained by Wayne Brissette Official Logo and Icons designed by Geoffrey Hamilton POETRY INK is a regular, erratically published E-zine (electronic magazine). Anyone interested in submitting poetry, short fiction, or essays should see the last few pages of this document for submission instructions. If writing via snail mail, please include a #10-sized self-addressed stamped envelope so that we may respond to you. Donations of food, money, software, and hardware are gracefully accepted. Legal Stuff ----------- POETRY INK is copyrighted 1996 by POETRY INK PRODUCTIONS, a wholly owned subsidiary of the imagination of Matthew W. Schmeer. POETRY = INK can be freely distributed, provided it is not modified in any way, shape, or form. Specifically: * All commercial on-line services, such as eWorld(tm), America On-Line(tm), and CompuServe(tm), and local BBSs may distribute = POETRY INK at no charge. * All non-profit user groups may distribute POETRY INK at no charge. * All CD-ROM shareware collections and CD-ROM magazines may not include POETRY INK without prior written consent. * All redistribution companies such as Educorp may not distribute POETRY INK without express written consent. POETRY INK PRODUCTIONS retains one-time rights and the right to reprint this issue, either printed or electronic. All other rights = to works appearing in POETRY INK written by authors other than Matthew = W. Schmeer revert to said authors upon publication. POETRY INK is produced on an Apple Macintosh(tm) Color Classic(tm) running System Software 7.1. POETRY INK is initially uploaded to eWorld(tm), with further Internet distribution by our readers. We = use Global Village Teleport Gold(tm) II Fax/Modems. POETRY INK is = produced using MicroFrontier's ColorIt!(tm) 2.3.4, Novell Corp.'s WordPerfect(tm) 3.1, and Michel & Francois Touchot's eDOC 1.1.1. We encourage others to support these fine hardware manufacturers and software programmers. Belles Lettres --------------- This is a new section where we publish eMail we receive from our readers. Got a question or comment about writing, reading, or POETRY INK? Then send it in! We will attempt to answer any questions sent = in and also provide a place for our readers to voice their opinion. So onto the letters! **Error Correction** > Just to let you know, my e-mail address was incorrectly published = in > issue #7. My correct e-mail address is , not > as was published. Tristan Li Tom ARGGGHHH!! I hate it when we make mistakes here at POETRY INK ! I regret that we screwed up your eMail address, Tristan. If anybody finds any errors in POETRY INK, please point them out--we only get better if people read us with a critical eye. **No More OneNet :-(** > I can't manage the OneNet distribution anymore. The = administrator of > the conference I was uploading POETRY INK to notified me that the > file was too big. The reason I could do it before is that it's = not a > physical restraint, but the way OneNet works is to actually send = each > individual file via long-distance [in most cases] call. So a file > the size of yours causes a major expense for the BBS's. If you = could > compile a text-only version, I could distribute that, but I don't > know how important the OneNet market is to you. Ben Judson Damn! I knew that "file bloat" would hit POETRY INK sometime soon! With all the graphics and styled text, the average size of an uncompressed issue of POETRY INK is around 450k in its eDOC format, and around 200k in PDF format (Don't ask me why there is this disparity in file size. Neither Wayne Brissette--who translates each issue into PDF format--nor myself can explain it). Is there a need = for a Text-Only version of POETRY INK ? Should we abandon eDOC and stick with PDF? What do you think? Drop us a line an let us know. We will keep you abreast of the vote. **POETRY INK in ZDNet Libraries** > POETRY INK Issue 8 has been released into the Software Exchange = and > I'll make sure we have any missing issues placed in the Editor's > Choice libraries. (Currently, we only have issues 1 through 5 = there.) > Also, please sign me up for a subscription at my America = Online(tm) > address. Although I'll have a subscription, please continue > uploading your magazine to eWorld(tm) as long as possible. After > eWorld(tm) disappears, I'll do my best to include current issues = of > POETRY INK in the ZD Net reviewed file libraries. P.S.: I loved the voice instructions in Issue 8's Read Me! George Louie Senior Sysop, ZD Net/Mac Library Manager, Software Exchange We are more than happy to send POETRY INK to ZDNet's AOL libraries = and to have us posted on it's Netlibraries. As for the remaining issues, look no more for I shall upload them forthwith. And as for the voice instructions in the Read Me file: they are in every issue's Read Me file. And yes, that is my real voice! P.S.: Is there anyway we could get a free MacUser subscription out = of this ? State Of Our Web... ------------------- **Poetry Ink...Now On the World Wide Web!** Wayne Brissette, a technical writer for Apple Computer, has linked POETRY INK to his Web site on one of Apple's servers in Austin, = Texas, USA*. Wayne generously donates his time and resources to provide POETRY = INK a home on the Web. To reach the POETRY INK Web site, point your WWW Browser to this URL: = The Web site contains links to download POETRY INK's back issues in both the original Macintosh eDOC format and Adobe Acrobat(tm) PDF format (for those of you on DOS, Windows, and Unix systems). Check = out the site and let us know what you think! Also, we received two important announcements regarding our web = site. They follow in their entirety (except for any header or footer information, which is not really that important). **Yahoo Addition** Date: Fri, Jan 19, 1996 3:04 PM CST From: Hi, The URL you submitted -- = -- has been added to Yahoo! It will appear after our next update which will probably occur = within the next 24 hours. You can find your listing at that time by looking through the "What's New" listing or by doing a keyword search. Thank you for taking the time to add your site. We rely on users = like yourself to make Yahoo! complete and comprehensive. In order to = keep Yahoo! accurate as well, please let us know of changes to your = listing in the future. Thanks again, The Yahoo Team **Art On The Net** Date:1/16/96 3:23 From: Greetings! Art on the Net is a non-profit, multimedia web site dedicated to the various disciplines of art. We receive over 1500 visitors per day and are constantly looking for new artists. Currently, we are compiling a list of literature-related links. Your site is scheduled to appear under "Links to other Art Sites/Online Literature References." This page is currently available at First, please review your entry. If necessary, submit a description of your site (not to exceed 3-4 lines) along with any other changes you would like. If you prefer not to be listed, you can notify us as well. Send email to If you do not reply, we will review your site in more detail and write a brief summary. Second, feel free to check out our site at . Although we're currently just budding in our literary aspect, we are working to expand in that direction. If you like what you see so = far, please put a link to us in your page. Thanks! Sincerely, Jennifer Chien Art on the Net Poet POETRY INK is looking into the Art On The Net site and we will keep our readers informed as to our findings. Spill The Ink! *Views and information stated in POETRY INK and on its Internet Web Page may not necessarily represent the views or products of Apple Computer, Inc. The Free Stuff Count... ----------------------- **We Want Free Stuff!** Okay, we admit it. We are making a desperate plea for free things = from you, our readers, who receive each issue absolutely free, no strings attached (feel guilty yet?). But lest you think less of us, here's = the Free Stuff Catch: We want Free Stuff we can either use to produce POETRY INK, review = for future issues, or award as prizes in our writing contests! Here's a few examples of free things we have received from various on-line folks. Most of these items will be used as contest prizes: * An Extra-Large T-Shirt from MacMillian Digital Publishing * A CD Sampler from the Windham Hill Record Label * A Shell Oil Company "You Make The Difference " Watch * A Schwan Stabilo Conference Marker 141 * 3-pair package of men's Hanes(r) brand socks * A mouse pad from J.C. Penney These are just a few of the interesting things we have received. We are always looking for things to review--such as books, magazines, = and CDs--that have a literary bent. Or you can send us things we can use to produce POETRY INK, such as new or used hard drives, keyboards, = Mac CPUs, and so forth that are in good working condition. While we = regret that your contribution is not tax deductible, we won't tell the IRS = if you don't. So send us some free stuff and we'll let you know what happens from there! News & Views From The Literate World ------------------------------------ This is a another new section in POETRY INK where we will attempt to bring you up-to-date on literary happenings OFF the online world. We will also use this space to review software, CD-ROMs, books, and = other electronic magazines, and anything else related to the art and craft of the Written Word. If you would like to contribute items for = review or inclusion in this section, please send them to one of the = addresses listed on the Masthead. If you would like to write reviews for = POETRY INK, please contact us via eMail. **The United States Of Poetry** The Independent Television Service (a subsidiary of the Public Broadcasting System ) is gearing up to air a five-part series on public television on the state of poetry in America. Entitled The United States of Poetry , the series takes a sometimes meaningful, sometimes meandering look at how poetry is coming to the forefront = as both a written craft and performed art. Featuring readings from both the unknown and the renowned, this is a series not to be missed. = ITVS has also set up a web site to compliment broadcast of the series, which can be reached at the URL: . The site contains links to hundred of writing-related web pages and also a detailed list of broadcast dates and stations which will air the show (but check with your local PBS affiliate to see if they are going to air the series). There's also a communal poem called The Great American Poem to which you can add your own lines if you are = so inspired! **Writer's Digest Contests** May 31, 1996 is the deadline for next year's Writer's Digest Writing Competition. Grand prize is an expenses-paid three-day trip to New York City to meet with editors and agents who handle work similar to your own. New this year, contestants can enter as many manuscripts = as they'd like in the following categories: Personal Essay, Feature Article, Literary Short Story, Mainstream/Genre Short Story, Rhyming Poem, Non-Rhyming Poem, Stage Play, Television/Movie Script. For complete rules and an official entry form, send a = self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Writer's Digest 1996 Writing Competition 1507 Dana Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45207 STORY Magazine Contest May 1, 1996 is the deadline for next year's STORY's Naked Fiction Competition . The top award is $1,000 cold,hard cash. For complete rules and an official entry form, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: STORY's Naked Fiction Competition 1507 Dana Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45207 **Coming Next Issue** Next issue, this space will feature reviews of two excellent poetry CD-ROMs--Voyager's "Poetry In Motion" and "Poetry In Motion II". = While both of these CD-ROM's have been available for a while, they've received little fanfare. So it's time to shed some light on these shining gems. Also, maybe I'll throw in a book review for good measure. POETRY INK Contest Winners -------------------------- Following are the winners and honorable mentions from the first = POETRY INK Writing Contest. First Place Winner ------------------ John Freemyer _Papa's Photo Chronology_ 1957_ It was here in the Iron Briton bank vault at lunch where beery old Hemingway, smelling of bedroom bough, eucalyptus and cheese, read to us from Mother Goose, Hopi mythology and the Tao Te Ching. 1958_ On this afternoon we were watching Papa thumbing through his thesaurus, casually leaning back against the wall, when his chair caught the breeze and he was thrown sideways behind a two ton mountain of cash. With his pink plastic pigskin wallet dangling from his teeth, Hem's shirt was accidentally twisted into the stapler. It clicked and fastened his belly flesh to the calico table cloth. Papa just winked, like he'd meant to staple himself all along. 1959_ In this picture he'd just staggered to the table, licked a postage stamp, and asked, "Which one of you girls wants to be Ms. Safe-Deposit Box at the Oktoberfest with me this year?" Then added, "I'm short, so I'll have to mail you to Munich." Unfortunately, no one here wanted him or cared. It had been a long time since anyone had. 1938_ Secret mouths once sucked measles from his chest with obsidian purity. 1960_ But, as you can see in this photo, now only literate lounge plebes cleaved themselves to this artifact Hemingway of old, this wasted Stars & Stripes hairdo Hemingway, this Hemingway, damp & dumpy & radiating helplessness. 1961_ And here, as the orchestra played on, he hid behind a stack of cash with a shotgun in his hands and cried, "Baby, without passion this volcano would just be a friggin' mountain." Second Place Winner ------------------- Michaele Benedict _On The Modest Table..._ On the modest table, a volume of Hemingway Sits at precise right angles to a thesaurus, a stapler, A roll of postage stamps, a pigskin-covered diary. The Tao Te Ching is open to Verse Forty-One: The perfect square has no corners. Great talents ripen late. Outside the window, a calico spattering Of bough, leaf and shadow Separates light from obsidian dark And casts a mottled pattern On the frown of the small woman. "I am my own historian," she slowly writes. "I am the creator of my own mythology. "I am the screen upon whose surface "This vision is projected." The great late-ripening secret Seems to withdraw into the play of light Beyond the trees' Oktoberfest. Third Place Winner ------------------ W. Luther Jett _O, Salvador!_ Under the gleam of your obsidian secrets, I am broken as the calico thesaurus weeps for Oktoberfests forgotten, tossing a lost coin for the Tao Te Ching--his pigskin mythology upended and I without a postage stamp for memory. Hemingway never needed a stapler, preferring to use his teeth. Honorable Mention ----------------- Richard Parnell _Myths and Secrets in a Post-Logicalico Age_ by Te Tao O, Human, Pig's kin, obtuse simian with Id, the Bragosaurus: itChing & stamping & Hemming & hawing your way, ravaging our staples. Bough down! Its not OK to be first while we fester. Honorable Mention ----------------- Ben Judson _Ideals_ Toss the pigskin, become an american dream Lose yourself in paperwork, postage stamps, staplers Find yourself in mythological secrets: Hemingway (old man & the sea) Lao-Tzu (tao te ching) Rip out the pages of your thesaurus, Never miss oktoberfest Wear rings of obsidian, clothes of calico Deck the walls w/boughs of holly Listen to dead rock stars And never visit home All out of principle. Honorable Mention ----------------- Jeff Waters _The Voice of Mission Control_ My fingers poise over the keyboard This desktop plateau has launched a thousand spaceships. "Astronaut ants, proceed from postage stamp ready room to stapler = gantry. All systems are go." Bullfinch's Mythology microwaves the countdown to Webster's = Unabridged. Tao Te Ching completes a data feed to Roget's Thesaurus: The pigskin perched on the calico photo album is really Emperor = Ming's cruiser. Tapping the window pane, a bough breaks my concentration. The late afternoon sun spills melancholy all over the carpet. "We have a hold at T minus 45 seconds." Newborn analogies fall screaming into the obsidian depths of = oblivion An Oktoberfest of protagonists evaporate like vampires in sunlight This Hemingway will give up no secrets The Old Man is forever at Sea. "Today's launch is scrubbed." Honorable Mention ----------------- Ainsley Moffitt _An Exercise in Writing_ Typing, spinning, coloring, in calico-print. Blind to the ringing telephone. Deaf to the open-faced, waiting, half-read Hemingway. Christmas boughs sagging from children's tugs. In your worn-out, mother's room. Now rhythmically worded in red and green. Pigskin thrown by Christmas-given little boys. Hurrying pages to the floor, to be returned to the pile, just after this chapter. Authoring somewhere between Tao Te Ching and the Bible. With the thesaurus in front, the writers written word. The stapler to your left, on a roll-top desk. With Grandma's antique postage stamp holder, obsidian paperweight. All meaningless compared to the depth of the growing character. Heroes of Mythology, those authors of our inspiration. Humans creating humans that never knew Oktoberfests, lawn chairs, Super Bowls, or writer's block. All of us enthralled in self-created utopia. The keys transforming into vessels, releasing humanity. Secrets told in volumes, chapters, pages, paragraphs, sentences, words, letters, commas, periods, spaces. Call For Entries #2...Another Contest! -------------------------------------- **Announcing POETRY INK Writing Contest #2** **Contest #2: Formulaic Expression** Most of us are familiar with so-called"poetic forms;" whether we = love them or hate them depends on our exposure to them. Sonnets, of = course, have been shoved down our throats ever since we were introduced to Shakespeare. But other forms, like the ballade, the villanelle, the sestina and the troilet were just as popular during The Bard's day = as they are today. As writers, it is important for us to remember that while free verse is the modern standard, we need to have a = fundamental knowledge of poetry's history. So here's the deal for the second POETRY INK Writing Contest. **The Pitch** Write a formulaic poem on the subject of streetlights. That's right. Streetlights, those things that hang over streets and light the way = at night. It can be a sonnet, a troilet, a sestina, whatever=80just not free verse. **The Hint** If you are looking for a good reference to the different poetic = forms, I recommend "Rhyme's Reason: A Guide To English Verse" by John Hollander (New Haven, MA, U.S.A.,Yale University Press: 1981). It cover price is roughly $8.00, and it will serve you well. Mine is tattered and torn! **The Deadline** The deadline for entries is April 15, 1996. All entries must be postmarked by this date to be considered eligible for consideration. Entries cannot be returned. We will report late entries to the IRS. **Where to Send Your Entry** Poems may be sent by SNAIL MAIL to the following address: Matthew W. Schmeer POETRY INK PRODUCTIONS ATTN: Contest #2 6711-A Mitchell Avenue St. Louis, MO 63139-3647 Or by eMail to If submitting by eMail, please title the subject line "YOUR NAME Contest 2" (no quotes), where "YOUR NAME" is your actual name and = not your eMail address. It should look like this: JOHN Q. PUBLIC Contest 2 **The Prize (This Is What You Really Wanted To Know, Right?)** Prestige and the knowledge that you were the best. No, really, the people who submit the top three entries will get some really cool = free stuff. Plus, they'll each receive a certificate proclaiming their greatness (suitable for framing) so that they can impress their friends and family. Not only that, but the top three (3) poems will = be published in the May 1996 issue. So what are you waiting for? Get those entries in! Mail yours today! Don't delay! Limited time offer! Richard Epstein --------------- 1 poem _Seed Comfort_ Fidgety newspapers gladly tell you who is wrong and why; the effort is exhausting, if you want to collate what you read with what the Masters urged impersonally. A schoolbus turned turtle in east New Jersey, the Messiah expected shortly in Spokane, the cuckoo countenance of high statesmanship, all await innocent connoisseurs, if your tastes run that way. If the wind is right. If the calendar shows no real rendezvous with destiny, the dentist, or your mother. Then there's always your wife, who has just announced at 6 a.m. she thinks she's pregnant. She feels sick. Her period is late. She waits to see if you are mad or disbelieving. Will you go back to bed and ponder the European umbrella of defense or the expansion of the money supply? Will you review the Masters' cadenced precepts (in time of passion Wise Men take stock)? Or will you jump before you measure? Comfort her with seed as she has you and shuffle the deck you are given, cut past The Thinker, draw Reverser, feel along the flow. Jeanne Gil ---------- 1 poem _Deli Love_ An intact heart, trembling under glass. Waiting for the time, When it belongs to one, who cherishes it. Customers enter the deli, the heart silently trembles. Each eyeing up the heart, but choosing only a piece. Shaved, shredded, the heart takes each assault in stride. Waiting for the one to take it whole, healing it's wounds. Yet it waits in vain, 'till all that remains , is the hard, discarded heel. John L. Arnold -------------- 2 poems _An Educated Man_ I saw a car the other day, out on the Interstate. pulling a U-Haul, piled high with household goods. A lawnmower, with no grass to cut, A dollhouse, with no fantasy to fulfill. Wheeled toys, with no place to roll. A rug, with no place to lie. And in the car, the faces of children with no joy. The car was neither old or new, sort of in-between. As with its occupants, it had once been well cared for. The couple in the front seat looked, confused, stunned, hurt. Trying to understand what had happened. He was, after all, an Educated Man, a College Man. Not like his father, no sir. Started out in Accounting, well on his way, up the ladder. White collar all the way. She held a responsible job, until the new baby came. Planning for a bigger house, maybe a new car, next year. Then the bottom fell out. First a rumor, talk around the water cooler. Then came the Bad Day, the letter said, Re-evaluate, Downsize, Maximize Profits. We regret. Who the hell is we? The Company cleaned out, You have two weeks. Get out! You thought the guards were to protect you, Now you see, they guard the Boardroom door. You see the Chairman laughing at you, as he floats gently to earth, on his golden parachute. The little people crash and burn. It happened fast after that, savings went, Unemployment ran out, Dreams died. The letters from creditors started with, We regret. The resumes came back unopened, there are no jobs. The men from the Sheriff's office had nervous eyes and carried large caliber weapons when they took away the little house. And you thought they were, on your side. You were wrong about a lot of things, Loyalty, integrity, honor, the American dream, a lot of things. What happened? They played by the rules. Said no to drugs. Voted Republican. Church on Sunday. Loyalty, pride, morality, respect for law. Now the papers say the Economy is on the rebound, things are looking up. Burger King may hire next year. Minimum wage, of course. The Educated Man is on the road now. Trying to regain the Dream, searching for Hope. But, it will never be the same, the trust is broken now. Alongside the road ahead, the Educated Man sees an a old hippie, ragged and tie-dyed, grey of beard and bare of feet. He is holding up a sign, and as the car draws closer, The couple can see that the sign says, in bold letters, How does it feel now? Sucker _A California Kind Of Woman_ First image is of sunlight, the Ocean, white beaches. slight breeze blowing, perfect long golden hair. Long skirt, tank top, feet bare. No make-up, no jewelry. No need. She wears the Sun perfectly. Heavy eyebrows, arched naturally. Skin tanned, coffee with cream color. White teeth on tan, dazzling in the sun. Her eyes mirror her soul, no coy glances, no words with double meaning, no flirting for the sake of flirting, no reason for it. Total honesty, right there, out front. Her eyes look directly into your heart. Beauty and wisdom together. And as you see her, know her. The word suddenly comes to you. This woman is totally free. Free of sexist stereotypes, free to love. free of the straight jacket, of roles to be played. Natural, easy, flowing. And when she is with you, it is as if you are, the only other person on earth. Her smile is as if sunlight, had fallen on a dark place, for the first time. Lips: large, expressive, petulant. No lies, no cute little deceptions. No behind the back comments. Only truth spoken here. This woman is of a new breed, a product of true liberation. Stereotyped roles for women, are cast out in the light of reason. New ways of thinking, new ways of living. Real revolution. Strong, the impression is that of strength. Both Strong and Free. Beauty, strength, intellect. Young in attitude, old in wisdom. Physical and spiritual beauty, a new kind of woman, Barefoot Goddess. A California Kind of Woman. Marianne Zopp ------------- 2 poems _The Mind's Eye_ The shell of human existence surpasses the realm of virtual flesh and blood. Believe in the consonant of life and dreams shall strum a different tune. Release yourself from this premature, imperfect world and you shall beckon to your external beauty. Time can injure a restless spirit awaiting to evolve. _Crossroads_ Tempered steel and radiant impulses torments yet comfort a child like barrier. The nucleus splits in two. Dreams swallowed and fantasies digested conquer all that is temptation and all that could become reality. The blind soldier that stands in the shadows would defend his honor = of love. While she navigates her visions of truth. Matthew W. Schmeer ------------------ 1 poem _the glamour of travel_ the old man next to me on the greyhound bus is travelling from stockton to st. claire. his daughter lives in audaboun, outside st. claire, and she will greet him at the bus terminal. i am going from culverton to mount rose, and the hours pass like a haunting. the turgid midwestern skies do not break for thunder and the trees have no leaves. the drone of the bus engine lulls us to sleeping, and the headlights of cars pass without tracing. the driver listens to a soft radio signal pulsing from somewhere outside of lafayette, and his company transceiver crackles with updates of new stops and traffic reports. there is no rain or snow--the roads are clean for our sweeping. there is nothing to do but read and write letters and play penny poker with the people sitting close to me. the seats will now and again be empty or filled with a new face looking to whittle away the between hours. I too will be gone, my bags unpacked and belongings stowed in some hotel bureau drawer, tickets for another stop in my coat pocket. when the old man faded to sleep, the whisper of a greyhound blanket covered his soft-snoring frame. I saw the paled blue tatoos on his forearms; the mermaids no longer dance when he flexes his muscles, and the anchors have slid from their moorings. About The Contributors... ------------------------- John Freemyer lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife Jane = and their two children, Marie and Claire. A frequent contributor to = POETRY INK, his poems and prose have appeared in almost every issue of this magazine to date. We are thinking about making him an Honorary = Editor Emeritus, but we don't want it to go to his head. Michaele Benedict lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and teaches at Skyline College in San Bruno, California. She is the author of the music method book "A Workbook for Organic Piano Playing", a volume = of poetry entitled "The Phoenician Sailor", and an unpublished novel, "The Dioscuri", which resides at the Brautigan Library in = Burlington, Vermont. Her poems _Travois_ and _Nasturtiums_ appeared in Issue 4 = of POETRY INK. W. Luther Jett hails from Washington Grove, Maryland. He is the = author of two electronic poetry chapbooks, "Gallery 1" and "Gallery 2", = which were produced using the Museum shareware electronic text package. = You can view more of his poems at this URL: , which is the URL for "AfterNoon", an Internet WebZine. Richard Parnell resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He creates textual/sculptural pieces using hand letterpress printing, pulp casting, and wood & metal working in his studio and at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. A recent edition entitled "A Letter to My Daughter from Prison", created in collaboration with poet and human rights activist Alicia Partnoy, was exhibited and collected = nationally in the United States. His poem _Otherwise_ appeared in Issue 4 of POETRY INK. Ben Judson lives outside of San Antonio, Texas. He is the Editor-In-Chief of Eat Worms Publishing, which is devoted to publishing works by teenage authors. Until recently, he was also POETRY INK's official OneNet BBS distributor. Jeff Waters lives in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He had made his living as a welder, submarine reactor operator, and technical = writer, but never as a poet. He has written feature articles for local newspapers and arts & entertainment magazines, and his poetry has appeared in "Proof Rock" and "Midwest Poetry Review". He was the Featured Writer in POETRY INK Issue 5. Ainsley Moffitt calls Wrightwood, California home. Ainsley will = attend San Francisco State University in the fall, where he plans to major = in Journalism and other creative arts. He writes for three local 'zines and his poems _Eye brows_ and _Love Poem_ appeared in POETRY INK = Issue 8. Richard Epstein hails from Denver, Colorado. A frequent contributor = to POETRY INK, one of his poems was recently nominated for The Forward Prize in Great Britain (it didn't win). He also has a collection of poems, "The Missouri Shores and Other Poems", looking for a = publisher. If any of POETRY INK's readers are also editors or publishers who would like to link their names to immortality, Richard asks that you contact him. Jeanne Gil lives in Robbinsville, New Jersey. She works with special needs children in the public schools as an Occupational Therapist. Being fairly new to writing, any and all comments would be greatly appreciated. This is her third appearance in POETRY INK. John L. Arnold lives in San Francisco, California and works as a = Tour Guide for the Great Pacific Tour Company. His poems and prose have appeared in Issue 7 and Issue 8 of POETRY INK. Marianne Zopp resides in Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania. She currently is employed with Chesapeake Advertising in Baltimore, Maryland. Her hobbies include fine art, art history, and graphic art. This is her second appearance in POETRY INK. Matthew W. Schmeer is the editor of POETRY INK. His hobbies include annoying his cat, drinking coffee, and snuggling with his wife. Submission Guidelines --------------------- Revised as of 10/25/95 (You may want to print this for future reference.) * Failure to follow these guidelines will mean automatic rejection of your submission! Please read the following very carefully! * By submitting works for consideration, you agree that if accepted for publication, you grant POETRY INK, the electronic magazine produced by POETRY INK PRODUCTIONS and Matthew W. Schmeer the right = to publish your work. This right includes initial publication and any subsequent re-release of the issue of POETRY INK in which your work appeared, either in the electronic or the printed medium. All other rights to your work are released to you upon publication. If we wish to publish your work in a different issue of POETRY INK, we will contact you for permission to do so and acknowledge your right of refusal. * By submitting works for consideration, you acknowledge that the works you are submitting are your own original works and are = products of your own design. You further agree that we have the right to request additional information from you regarding the source(s) of your work and any related topic thereof. You agree that if your work is found to be a derivative of copyrighted material by another = author or artist, you, and not POETRY INK PRODUCTIONS and/or Matthew W. Schmeer, will be liable for any physical or monetary damage assessed under the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States of America and the conventions of the International Copyright Law. * By submitting works for consideration, you acknowledge that you are not nor will ever be requesting monetary compensation for the right = of POETRY INK PRODUCTIONS to publish your work. You therefore = acknowledge the only compensation due to you by POETRY INK PRODUCTIONS is access to a copy of the issue of POETRY INK in which your work appeared. Acceptable access to POETRY INK is the posting of POETRY INK on eWorld(tm), America On-Line(tm), the Internet at sumex-aim.stanford.edu and mac.archive.umich.edu, and via eMail sent directly to you, whichever we decide is fair and cost-effective. * Submissions should be written in the English language. We regret that we are unable to publish work in foreign languages, but we = cannot spend time flipping through foreign language dictionaries trying to check grammar, spelling, and meaning. Lord knows we have trouble enough with our native tongue. So unless you can provide an English translation to a work in a foreign language, forget about it. * No previously published work may be submitted. Simultaneous submissions are okay. In the case of simultaneous submissions, = please contact us if your work has been accepted by another publication so that we may remove the work in question from consideration. * All submissions must have your name, postal address, and eMail address included on each individual work. You may submit work via = U.S. Mail or eMail. See below for addresses. * No gratuitous obscenity or profanity, although erotic material is okay. If you think it's too graphic, then it probably is and won't = be published in this forum. * Please keep poems under 3 printed pages apiece (page size =3D 8" x = 11" page with 1" margins printed with Times 12-point plain font). * Please limit short stories to under 5000 words. * No more than 5 poems or 2 short stories submitted per person per issue. * Submissions should be submitted as plain ASCII eMail files or as StuffIt compressed (.sit) attachments to files. Compressed files should be in plain text format (the kind produced by SimpleText). Regardless of submission format, please use the subject line "SUBMIT POETRY INK: your name" where "your name" is your actual name and not the name of your eMail account. For example, it should look like = this: SUBMIT POETRY INK: John Q. Public * Manuscripts and submissions cannot be returned, nor can we offer any constructive criticism unless we decide to publish the work and we have serious reservations regarding content or structure. You will = not receive notification that your work was received; while we regret = this inconvenience, you must realize we have to support ourselves = somehow. Therefore, due to the amount of expected submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt of your work unless we decide to publish it. * If your work is accepted for publication, you will be notified as soon as possible by eMail. If you prefer to be notified by U.S. = Mail, please indicate on your submission this preference. Your eMail = address will be published when crediting your work. If you prefer us not do = do so, please indicate this on your submission. * Subscribers to the PATCHWORK mailing list will be given special consideration in the selection process. For information regarding PATCHWORK, or to subscribe, send an eMail message to patchwork- request@nyx.cs.du.edu, with the subject "HELP" (no quotes). It is = not necessary to have any text in the body of the message. All submissions, inquiries, and comments should be directed to: eMail: snail mail: Matthew W. Schmeer POETRY INK PRODUCTIONS 6711-A Mitchell Avenue St. Louis, MO 63139-3647 USA POETRY INK... ------------- ...is now available on the World Wide Web! Point your browser to = this URL: = Past issues of POETRY INK can be found on the web site in both their orginal Macintosh eDOC format, as well as in Adobe Acrobat(tm) PDF format for users of DOS and Unix systems. ..